Trust Your Tradies: A Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Your Experts

The best way to ensure you get the right (and best!) people for the job, is to ask around. Speak with your network of friends who have used certain tradespeople, or know people who are highly regarded, as this can uncover a goldmine of excellent, skilled people who can make all the difference to your home renovation.

Communication is key. Get your tradies involved early on, especially with a major renovation. Get your plumber or builder out early, before you buy anything to ensure you get their advice, preference and technical expertise. Often they will have preferred brands or products they recommend for a number of reasons, including durability, installation ease and flexibility, which in the end will save them time, and you money! This kind of insider knowledge is invaluable.

Engaging your tradies early on is also beneficial from the standpoint that they understand the amount of behind-the-wall work involved in building your dream, and can advise you of the best approach. If you plan to move plumbing fittings around, be prepared to pay for the additional labour; the cheapest renovation is often achieved by replacing fittings, rather than moving them.

As in most things, honesty is the best policy. Often trades cop the brunt of complaints in the renovation of any bathroom, kitchen or laundry, but mostly an open dialog and being honest with your tradie will pay off in the end.

Don’t be shy to arrange a number of quotes and compare your options — remember though, the cheapest is not always the best, so take word-of-mouth recommendation into account; make sure you can trust the tradespeople you hire and can build a good working relationship with them. This may not be your last kitchen or bathroom renovation, and finding quality experts who you can rely on is worth its weight in gold.

If you are looking for a trade, use our free trade concierge service.